Hoplite Helmet

Ancient Greek weapons and armor were primarily geared towards combat between individuals. Their primary technique was called the phalanx, a formation consisting of massed shield wall, which required heavy frontal armor and medium-ranged weapons such as spears.^[1] Soldiers were required to provide their own panoply, which could prove expensive,^[2] however the lack of any official peace-keeping force meant that most Greek citizens carried weapons as a matter of course for self-defence.^[3] Because individuals provided their own equipment, there was considerable diversity in arms and armour among the Hellenistic troops.^[4]

Hoplite, heavily armed ancient Greek foot soldier whose function was to fight in close formation. Until his appearance, probably in the late 8th century bce, individual combat predominated in warfare. At that time, new and heavier armour now gave the foot soldier stronger protection: he wore a. Originating in Ancient Greece, the Greek Corinthian helmet was originally made of bronze and the helm covered the entire head and neck of the Greek soldiers. This historical helm had only slits for the eyes and mouth and a large curved projection to protect the nape of the neck.

The poorest citizens, unable to afford the purchase or upkeep of military equipment, operated on the battlefield as psiloi or peltasts; fast, mobile skirmishing troops.

Weapons were primarily constructed from iron, wood and bronze.

Personal weapons[edit]

Spears[edit]

The primary weapon that was used by Greek troops was a two-to-three meter spear with a leaf-shaped blade at one end and a short spike at the other known as the doru. The spear head was usually made of bronze or iron but which one was more prominently used is still an open question. The doru was used one-handed (the other hand supporting the soldier's shield).^[5] Mounted cavalry were known to have used a thinner spear or very long lance (xyston) which provided a range advantage over shorter infantry spears.^[6]My baby cares for me.

Under Philip II of Macedon, hoplites were equipped with extremely long spears (up to 21 feet) called sarrisae. Used in conjunction with the phalanx formation, this made an impregnable wall of spears in front of the infantry; the enemy's shorter weaponry could not reach the phalanx because of the sarissae.^[7]

Sword[edit]

As a secondary weapon, hoplites are known to have carried a short sword known as the xiphos which was made from iron or bronze depending on the era. This was used in the event of a broken spear, or if close melee combat was necessary.^[8] Hoplites mounted on horseback likely used a heavier, curved sword known as the kopis, meaning 'chopper' in the Greek language.^[2][9] Light infantry known as peltasts would carry a number of javelins used to pepper enemy formations, avoiding close combat whenever possible. The job of the peltast was not to engage in formation combat, therefore, many carried nothing more than javelins.

Ranged weapons[edit]

Hand-to-hand, light support troops such as the psiloi were often armed with ranged weapons. Popular ranged weapons were the bow (toxa), javelin (akontia) and sling (sfendonai). While the bow was a relatively uncommon weapon (the wooden stave bow used had a limited range), some troops treated their arrows by thrusting them into rotting corpses, thus creating a crude form of biological weapon.^[10] Peltast troops commonly used javelins, and hoplites and cavalry troops were also often equipped with javelins for throwing. The javelins used were light spears around 1.5 meters in length, with a bronze head to facilitate recovery of the weapon; they were usually thrown with the aid of an amentum.^{[citation needed]} Slings used both lead pellets and stones; stones were also commonly thrown by hand.^[11]

Armor[edit]

Linothorax armor made out of linen fabric was the most common form of infantry torso armor, being cheap and relatively light. Bronze breastplate armor was also used, in forms such as a bell cuirass. Little other armor was worn, and fatal blows to unprotected areas (such as the bladder or neck) are recorded in ancient art and poetry.^[12] Cavalry armor was designed to be lightweight; over a sleeveless tunic called a chitoniskos the cavalry soldier would wear a muscle cuirass designed to leave the arms as free as possible.^[9] Hoplites wore greaves to protect the lower leg, as did cavalry, but otherwise the torso and head were the only body parts protected by armor.

Shields[edit]

The most vital part of the panoply was the Aspis, a large, round shield commonly made from a layer of bronze, wood, and leather. The hoplon was around a meter in diameter, and weighed around 7.3 kg (16 lbs), making it uncomfortable to hold for long periods.^[12] Peltasts were armed with wicker shields called pelte, which were much lighter, allowing for greater movement on the battlefield. These were designed to defend against in-coming javelins from opposing peltasts, not necessarily to fend off the thrust of a spear or sword.^[13]The shield was used in every battle, the soldiers didn't go on battle without it. It weighed approx. 16 Ibs

Helmets[edit]

Helmets for the infantry came in various types . The earliest standard hoplite helmet was the Corinthian helmet, developed around 600BC.^[12] Later, this was replaced by the Phrygian helmet and Chalcidian helmet, which were lighter and did not impair the wearer's vision or hearing so severely. Helmets often had a horsehair crest, for decorative purposes and as an additional level of protection. The Boeotian helmet was commonly used by cavalry troops due to their need for unimpeded vision and hearing. Helmets were mainly used for protecting the head but leaving the eyes, mouth and nose unprotected.^[14]

Other[edit]

Chariots[edit]

The chariot, though ineffective for warfare in the hilly terrain of the Greek mainland, was used by the Myceneans in some circumstances. The vehicle used was generally a single-axled chariot, drawn by two horses and carrying two passengers (a driver and a spearman or archer); the construction was generally bronze-plated wood.^[15]

Catapults[edit]

The Ancient Greeks used two principal types of heavy catapults as siege engines. The ethytonos was a type of stationary bow, mounted on a tripod and similar in design to a ballista.^[16] A larger version, the palintonos, fired stone projectiles.^[17]

References[edit]

1. ^Richard Holmes (1 April 2008). Weapon. Dorling Kindersley. p. 40. ISBN978-1-4053-1619-4. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
2. ^ ^abStephen Batchelor (23 September 2008). The Ancient Greeks For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 59. ISBN978-0-470-98787-2. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
3. ^Robert Sallares (1991). The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World. Cornell University Press. pp. 406. ISBN978-0-8014-2615-5. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
4. ^William Kendrick Pritchett (8 January 1986). Studies in Ancient Greek Topography. University of California Press. p. 24. ISBN978-0-520-09698-1. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
5. ^Richard A. Gabriel (2002). The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 177. ISBN978-0-275-97809-9. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
6. ^Iain Spence (2002). Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare. Scarecrow Press. p. 89. ISBN978-0-8108-4099-7. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
7. ^George Grote (1856). A history of Greece. John Murray. pp. 77–79. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
8. ^DORLING KINDERSLEY; Dorling Kindersley Publishing Staff (1 April 2010). Swords. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 30. ISBN978-1-4053-5136-2. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
9. ^ ^abNick Sekunda; Nicholas Sekunda (22 May 1986). The Ancient Greeks. Osprey Publishing. p. 18. ISBN978-0-85045-686-8. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
10. ^Janell Broyles (1 November 2004). Chemical And Biological Weapons In A Post-9/11 World. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 9. ISBN978-1-4042-0288-7. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
11. ^William Kendrick Pritchett (5 June 1991). The Greek State at War. University of California Press. pp. 1–15. ISBN978-0-520-07374-6. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
12. ^ ^abcDavid Sacks; Oswyn Murray (6 February 1997). A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World. Oxford University Press. p. 117. ISBN978-0-19-511206-1. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
13. ^J. E. Lendon (22 August 2006). Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity. Yale University Press. p. 96. ISBN978-0-300-11979-4. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
14. ^Waldemar Heckel (25 July 2002). The Wars of Alexander the Great: 336-323 BC. Osprey Publishing. p. 25. ISBN978-1-84176-473-3. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
15. ^David Sacks; Oswyn Murray (6 February 1997). A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World. Oxford University Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN978-0-19-511206-1. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
16. ^Mark Denny (4 May 2007). Ingenium: Five Machines That Changed the World. JHU Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN978-0-8018-8586-0. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
17. ^Ivy A. Corfis; Michael Wolfe (1 January 2000). The Medieval City Under Siege. Boydell Press. p. 135. ISBN978-0-85115-756-6. Retrieved 20 June 2012.

Bronze Corinthian helmet, ca. 500 BCE, (Inv. 4330)The Corinthian helmet originated in and took its name from the of. Stop the robots. It was a made of which in its later styles covered the entire head and neck, with slits for the eyes and mouth.

A large curved projection protected the nape of the neck.Out of combat, a Greek would wear the helmet tipped upward for comfort. This practice gave rise to a series of variant forms in Italy, where the slits were almost closed, since the helmet was no longer pulled over the face but worn cap-like. Although the classical Corinthian helmet fell out of use among the Greeks in favour of more open types, the Italo-Corinthian types remained in use until the 1st century AD, being used, among others, by the.

On a coin, with Corinthian helmetApparently (judging from artistic and evidence) the most popular helmet during the Archaic and early Classical periods, the style gradually gave way to the more open, and the much simpler type, which was less expensive to manufacture and did not obstruct the wearer's critical senses of and as the Corinthian helmet did. Numerous examples of Corinthian helmets have been excavated, and they are frequently depicted on.The Corinthian helmet was depicted on more sculpture than any other helmet; it seems the Greeks romantically associated it with glory and the past. The Romans also revered it, from copies of Greek originals to sculpture of their own. Based on the sparse pictorial evidence of the republican Roman army, in Italy the Corinthian helmet evolved into a jockey-cap style helmet called the Italo-Corinthian, Etrusco-Corinthian or Apulo-Corinthian helmet, with the characteristic nose guard and eye slits becoming mere decorations on its face. Given many Roman appropriations of ancient Greek ideas, this change was probably inspired by the 'over the forehead' position common in Greek art. This helmet remained in use well into the 1st century AD.Literary evidence. Being seduced by (wearing a plumed Corinthian helmet), fresco from, 1st century ADmentions the Corinthian helmet in his Histories when writing of the and, two tribes living along the River in ancient (the portion of ancient Libya he describes is most likely in modern ).

The tribes chose annually two teams of the fairest who fought each other ceremonially with sticks and stones. They were dressed in the finest Greek topped off with a Corinthian helmet. The fight was part of a festival honoring the virgin goddess. Young women who succumbed to their wounds during the ordeal were thought to have been punished by the goddess for lying about their virginity ( Histories, 4.180).In popular culture.